DOB/DOD: February 22, 1983 (Caguas, Puerto Rico) – August 18, 2004; 21 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: New London Turnpike; Norwich
ENLISTMENT: February 17, 2000, at 17 years old
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 11B10; Infantryman
UNIT: 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division; Fort Hood, Texas
FAMILY: Born to Jose W. Martir [Vietnam veteran) (1944-1995) and Olga Lydia Gutierrez (1944-). Siblings are Yesenia Rosas (-), Olgita Martir (1967-), Elizabeth Martir (1980-), Ismael Martir (1980-), and Jasmin L. Antonetty (1995-).
DECORATIONS: Awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism (Expeditionary), Global War on Terrorism (Service), and the Army Overseas Ribbon.
CIRCUMSTANCES: Specialist Martir-Gutierrez was killed in action when his patrol came under small arms fire in Sadr City, Iraq.
From The Waco (TX) Tribune-Herald August 21, 2004
FORT HOOD SOLDIER KILLED IN IRAQ
WASHINGTON — A Connecticut soldier has been killed in Iraq. Specialist Jacob Martir, 21, of Norwich, died Wednesday when his patrol came under enemy small arms fire in Sadr City, the Defense Department said
Friday. The youngest of eight children, Martir was a native of Caguas, Puerto Rico. Family members said he came to Connecticut as an infant and grew up in Willimantic and Norwich. ‘‘I remember him saying that he wanted to serve his country,” his aunt, Noemi Martir, told the Norwich Bulletin. “He was the kind of kid who when he said he was going to do something, he did it.” Martir was assigned to the Second Battalion, Fifth Cavalry Regiment of the First Cavalry Division at Fort Hood. When he was 15, he told his family that he wanted to be a soldier. His oldest sister, Angelica, bought him an Army jacket and a few pairs of Army pants, which she said he wore constantly with a pair of white sneakers. “I can’t stop thinking about him. I can’t even sleep,” Angelica Martir told the newspaper. “I had a reunion planned, and now the eight of us are never going to be together again.” He attended Norwich Free Academy for one semester in ninth grade before transferring, said Kim Caron, the school’s assistant superintendent. Many of Martir’s family members live in Puerto Rico and Philadelphia but are returning to Willimantic for the funeral. Details of the ceremony are still being planned. Governor M. Jodi Rell ordered all state flags to be lowered to half-staff until sundown on the day of Martir’s interment. No funeral or memorial service arrangements were available. Martir joined the Army in early 2000 and had been stationed at Fort Hood for nearly all of his service, post officials said. Martir is the 14th member of the military from Connecticut to die in Iraq or Afghanistan since March 2003.
From The Day (New London, CT) on August 28, 2004
By Megan Bard and Claire Bessette | Day Staff Writers
FAMILY LAYS NORWICH SOLDIER TO REST
Martir-Gutierrez Killed In Baghdad Skirmish August 18
Army Specialist Jacob David Martir-Gutierrez was remembered Friday as a cheerful child with a mischievous grin and a big heart who was so dedicated to his military service that he decided to re-enlist for four more years last February. Martir-Gutierrez, 21, formerly of Willimantic and Norwich, was killed August 18 in the Sadr City section of Baghdad when his patrol came under enemy small arms fire while patrolling an area where heavy fighting has taken place in recent months. Martir-Gutierrez was buried with military honors Friday at the Maplewood Cemetery in Norwich after a funeral service at the Potter Funeral Home in Willimantic. During the service in Willimantic, the Army presented Martir-Gutierrez’s mother, Olga Gutierrez of Miami, with a Bronze Star Medal representing her son’s heroic and meritorious service and a Purple Heart Medal because he was killed in action. More than 100 family, friends, and local officials gathered around the soldier’s gravesite. The din of Interstate 395 in the background contrasted with the silence as soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, New York, carefully lifted the American flag from the casket and held it horizontally above the coffin. They remained in that position throughout the ceremony. “Give our brother Jacob peaceful rest in of the Connecticut National Guard, said in the opening prayer. Family members leaned against one another, hugged, and, at times, had to walk away, overcome with grief. None used the chairs set up beside the casket. After the traditional 21-gun salute, Specialist Thomas Bowen of Columbus, Ohio, stationed at Fort Drum, played Taps. The Honor Guard then carefully folded the flag into a triangle as members of the rifle salute group gathered the bullet shells to tuck them neatly into the folded flag. Brigadier General James R. Moran of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, presented the flag to Jacob’s mother. Martir-Gutierrez was born in Puerto Rico on February 22, 1963. The family moved to the United States when he was an infant. He attended the WB Sweeney School in Willimantic and Teachers Memorial Middle School in Norwich. He attended one semester of ninth grade at Norwich Free Academy before transferring to the Westover Job Corps Center in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Martir-Gutierrez was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, which is based in Fort Hood, Texas. The 1st Cavalry Division is the largest in the Army, with more than 17,000 soldiers, and has sustained some of the heaviest casualties in the war. Nancy Ramos remembered her younger cousin Friday morning as a caring person who loved being with his family. Martir-Gutierrez was supposed to leave the Army in February, but despite Ramos’ advice, the 21-year-old soldier reenlisted for four more years. “He wanted to be in the Army. He wanted to fight,” Ramos said outside the Potter Funeral Home on Jackson Street in Willimantic after the 45-minute memorial service. Dozens walked quietly through the front doors of the brick funeral home, nodding their heads and clasping hands with family and friends as they passed by. Governor M. Jodi Rell, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Windham First Selectman Michael Paulhus, and Major General William A. Cugno, state adjutant general and commander of the Connecticut National Guard, were among the state dignitaries who attended the service. Norwich Mayor Arthur Lathrop and Assistant City Manager Robert Zarnetske represented that city at the burial. Outside the funeral home, Rell said the word “hero” is bantered about often but that the word can truly be used to describe Martir-Gutierrez. “It is a sad day for Connecticut, but I hope the family knows that our thoughts and prayers are with them,” she said. In her eulogy of the soldier, Rell said Martir-Gutierrez “is now a member of this nation’s new greatest generation. A generation of young Americans who, like their grandparents, selflessly and bravely give whatever their nation needs… even their very lives. “They ask little for themselves except the honor of serving and the opportunity to help others around the world,” Rell said. “We must honor Jacob by celebrating and preserving the freedoms he fought for and by treating each other with the kindness, respect, and generosity that he exhibited in his life.” Blumenthal said the service served as a reminder that “freedom is never free.” Blumenthal said during the service, he was reminded of another he attended at West Point. where the minister said, “God must love soldiers because he takes our best.” “That is the feeling today. Jacob was one of our best in Connecticut,” he said. Cugno said he had not known the soldier prior to his death but that “when I read his background, it struck me that this young man always said he wanted to join and he wanted to die as a soldier.” Don Primavera of Ledyard remembered Martir-Gutierrez as a “happy-go-lucky kid” who was “very proud, quite proud of his achievements. He was ready to be in the Army.” Days before departing for Fort Hood, Texas, more than a year ago, Martir-Gutierrez visited Primavera’s copy center business in New London to say goodbye and show off his uniform. “It’s heartbreaking,” said Primavera. “I’ve been to two funerals for people killed in Iraq in two months. It’s tough.” Primavera’s brother-in-law, Walter J. Zbrzyski of Florida, was killed in June when a truck he was driving for private contractor Halliburton traveled over a suspected land mine. Teachers Memorial School Principal William Peckham and Janis Sawicki, who was assistant principal at Teachers when Martir-Gutierrez was a student there, both said they could easily recall young Jacob as a middle school student. Sawicki remembered his impish personality sways with a big mischievous grin and a good sense of humor. “He wasn’t mischievous in a mean sort of way,” Sawicki said. “He was just a nice kid,” Peckham recalled seeing his mother three years ago at the school when she came to register Jacob’s stepsister for sixth grade. She told the principal that Jacob was stationed at Fort Hood. “She came in and told us how proud she was of him,” Peckham said.
Memorialized on a monument at the intersection of Washington Street and Williams Street, Norwich, Connecticut.
Specialist Martir-Gutierrez is buried in Maplewood Cemetery, 184 Salem Turnpike, Norwich, Connecticut; Section 23, Lot 148 Northside.
